The TAM's central idea is that a person's attitude toward technology is influenced by both perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU). Technology usage is determined by a person's behavioural intention (BI) to use it, which differs from the notion of reasoned action in that it is considered as being mediated by the person's attitudes toward utilising it (Granić and Marangunić, 2019).

The TAM's attitude-behavioural intentions relationship argues that all uses are equal and that intentions to use technology again can be created based on positive technology usage. This is assumed by the PU–BI relationship, which has been shown to have a favourable or negative impact on individual behaviour in organisations (Granić and Marangunić, 2019). As a result, the study aims to assess perceptions and linkages among various TAM dominants, using gender as a moderator.

This paper is grounded in the Resource-based View (RBV hereafter) because RBV has emerged as a very popular theory for explaining firm performance over the last three decades (Newbert, 2007). As per the RBV, firms should possess strategic resources to create competitive advantages or superior business performance. According to Barney (1991), a firm's assets should be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and non-substitutable to be considered as strategic resources. Barney (1991) argued that resources are dispersed heterogeneously among firms and that some resources are not entirely imitable or substitutable (Barney, 1991). When a firm possesses a distinctive or rare set of resources, this situation is called resource heterogeneity (Peteraf, 1993). And when resources cannot be imitated by competitors; this is called imperfect imitability (Barney, 1991). Then when substitute resources are not sufficient for the execution of resources effectively or efficiently as the original resources, such original resources are interpreted as non-substitutable (Barney, 1991).

Because competitive advantages are difficult to quantify (Ketchen et al., 2007), numerous scholars have tried to link strategic resources empirically with firm success (Barney and Arikan, 2001). The underlying argument is that if strategic resources are tied to the performance of firms, then there should be a competitive advantage (Crook et al., 2008). Because competitive advantage is “largely used to explain the relative performance of competitors within a given (product) market environment” (Peteraf and Barney, 2003, p. 313), a considerable number of scholars have used the concept as synonymous with firm performance (Crook et al., 2008). According to RBV, therefore, the degree to which enterprises possess strategic resources would positively affect firm output (Crook et al., 2008).

The RBV model comprises three main constructs: firm performance, organisational resources, and capabilities. The theory's dependent construct is firm performance, while the theory's main independent construct is firm resources which include:

“all of the assets, capabilities, organisational processes, firm attributes, information knowledge, etc., controlled by a firm that enables the firm to conceive of and implement strategies that improve its efficiency and effectiveness” (Barney, 1991, p. 101).

Though the online payment system has seen considerable growth in Bangladesh (The Daily Star, 2021), its use is not yet as widespread amongst SMEs (United Nations Capital Development Fund, 2019) as among the larger firms in Bangladesh. Hence, it still can be considered as a heterogeneous resource and thus enable to create a competitive advantage for an SME. It is a valuable resource as well since it provides substantial value to the users. The access, mobility, and convenience it provides (Kim et al., 2010; Su et al., 2018), is inimitable and non-substitutable unless a better technological platform becomes mainstream which is as low cost as an online payment system. Therefore, according to RBV, the online payment system meets all the criteria to be considered a strategic resource.

As per the above discoveries, I suggest the following hypothesis:

In the existing literature, the impact of gender on advanced and new technology uptake and use has gotten a lot of attention. Women are less likely than men to accept and use new and advanced ICT technologies, according to research on the subject. One cause for this may be their lack of trust in their abilities to use these advanced technologies (Li et al., 2008). Men, compared to women, are more likely to put in greater effort in the face of a hurdle without overthinking the effort or the degree of the effort, according to research. As a result, when using these technologies, males emphasise the importance of instrumentality and control. Women, on the other hand, exhibit less control and a greater focus on the process when using these devices. As a result of their perception that certain technologies are difficult to use, they are less likely to adopt and use them than men (Rotter and Portugal, 1969; Hennig and Jardim, 1977). As a result of their limited utilisation, new and advanced technologies have a smaller impact on the business performance of women-led businesses (White Baker et al., 2007).

As per the above discoveries, I suggest the following hypothesis:

Based on the above hypotheses, I present my research model in Figure 1.

This study was meant to explore the moderating role of gender on the relationship between the online payment system and SME performance in Bangladesh. The research findings support that both Perceived ease of use and Perceived usefulness of OPS has a positive influence on the adoption of OPS in SMEs in Bangladesh. It was also found that the adoption of OPS has a positive influence on the use of OPS in SMEs in Bangladesh. Moreover, it was found that the use of OPS impacts SME performance positively in Bangladesh. Prior research findings (Barkhordari et al., 2017; Mehrad and Mohammadi, 2017; Ameen et al., 2020) matched the findings of this study.

The OPS is increasingly becoming vital for enterprises all over the world (Krotov, 2017). I explored this research model from the Bangladeshi context for two reasons. First, the role of SMEs has been considered one of the main engines of economic growth in an emerging economy like Bangladesh (GOB, 2017). Second, there has been a proliferation of OPS use in the SME sector in Bangladesh in recent days (Neger and Uddin, 2020). However, there have been very few studies exploring OPS in the context of Bangladesh and adopting a gendered approach in doing so.

While it might be argued that the results are not completely counter-intuitive, the context of the research has to be taken into consideration. Very few studies on this topic have been conducted in the context of Bangladesh, which is considered an emerging economy that has just upgraded to a lower-middle-income status recently (World bank, 2021). This is one of the original contributions of this research.

The findings of this study explain the significant association between each independent variable and its associated dependent variable, supporting the TAM framework, as well as TAM's novel contributions to the adoption of e-payment in Bangladesh and the moderating role of Gender on OPS adoption.

One of this study's novel theoretical contributions is to explore whether gender differences can moderate the impact of perceived usefulness and ease of use on the intention to adopt e-payments technology. There have been a number of studies on OPS adoption in SMEs but very few explored the moderating impact of gender on that relationship. Denaputri and Usman (2019), for example, looked at the direct impact of reported ease of use and perceived usefulness on the intention of adopting mobile payment without accounting for gender moderating effects. Roca et al. (2009) also looked at the impact of perceived usefulness and ease of use on e-investor perception in online trading systems, but there were no gender differences in their findings.

The findings of this study on the moderating impact of gender on perceived ease of using OPS show that for female users in SMEs, this factor is more important than male users. With the rise of the use of technologies by women in recent years, one school of thought is that perceived ease of use is not impacted by gender differences. However, this study supports the beliefs of other schools of thought that perceived ease of use is still a determining factor for SMEs in Bangladesh in adopting OPS. This finding is in line with the prior findings by Khan et al. (2020). Women are sometimes uncomfortable utilising internet-based services because they believe they are too difficult. This indicates a lack of self-assurance and the anxiety that comes with it (Chawla and Joshi, 2020). According to Moon and Kim (2001), females will be less at risk from easy-to-use information technology systems. Females are also often reticent to embrace new technologies.

The findings of this study on the moderating impact of gender on the perceived usefulness of using OPS show that for male users in SMEs, this factor is more important than female users. This finding is in line with the prior findings by Schmidthuber et al. (2020). According to both these studies, males are more driven by instrumental motivations than women, and men evaluate perceived usefulness to a higher extent than women when making decisions concerning the usefulness or performance-related components of new technology.

The research findings indicate that OPS not only provides enhanced benefits to organisations but also to consumers. As a result, the OPS is capable of creating a win-win situation for both the enterprises and common people (Saarikko et al., 2020). Hence, this has the potential of creating both social and public value. Hence, the enterprises should consider adopting it. At the same time, the Govt. should make congenial policies to make the adoption of the online payment system easy for enterprises.

According to the resource-based view, H7, which states that the gender of the entrepreneurs moderates the OPS and SME performance relationship in such a way that the application of OPS adds more to performance in male-led SMEs in developing countries than in female-led SMEs, is supported. This disparity could be explained by gender disparities in OPS usage. According to RBV, owner-managers' strategic decisions are influenced by the firm's tangible and intangible resources (Lerner and Almor, 2002; Edelman et al., 2005). Human capital is frequently viewed as the most essential resource at the corporate level, according to Firkin (2001). It has recently been recognised that the demographic characteristics of the entrepreneurs provide personal capabilities (intangible and inimitable assets) that impact performance (Markman and Baron, 2003).

The findings of this research have manifold contributions to the extant literature. First of all, this research examines the TAM in the context of RBV. Thus, it adds to the technology and ICT literature. By exploring the interplay among the factors related to the adoption of OPS, the use of OPS, and firm performance, this study adds value to RBV literature and hence, also contributes to firm performance literature. Firm performance being a critical construct of strategic entrepreneurship, this paper adds to the strategic entrepreneurship literature. Moreover, Gender and SME being the critical construct of the study, this paper adds to the Gender and SME literature. Despite the fact that the existing literature on OPS is widely documented, most of it is undertaken in the context of large enterprises functioning in relatively developed economies (Dandapani, 2017; Das et al., 2018). In the context of emerging economies like Bangladesh, similar literature on SMEs is still in its infancy. As a result, this study will contribute to the development of a knowledge base and a research agenda focusing on SMEs in emerging or least developed economies. Therefore, it contributes to emerging economy literature.

Gender disparities in ICT user behaviour, skills, interest, and attitude have been documented in the literature (Gorbacheva et al., 2019; Lahtinen, 2019). Males outperform females in sophisticated ICT capabilities, according to some research (Sobieraj and Krämer, 2020). However, there have been very few studies on this in the context of Bangladesh. Therefore, this research is critical in enhancing our understanding of factors that impact the adoption of advanced and new technology like OPS from a gendered angle and a developing country perspective.

Moreover, there is limited evidence in the literature that the entrepreneur's gender has a good or negative impact on the OPS-firm performance relationship. This paper not only explores the impact of OPS on the performance of small businesses but also explores whether the gender of the entrepreneur strengthens or weakens that link or not. It is one of the first studies to look into how an entrepreneur's gender influences an OPS- Business Performance links from a Bangladeshi perspective. As a result, this research adds to the gender literature by expanding not only theoretical but also empirical understanding of gender's moderating function in the OPS and the performance connexion in SMEs. This remains one of the paper's most important contributions.

The findings of this study have numerous practical implications for the owner-managers of SMEs. For example, SMEs' owner-managers can more effectively adopt and use online payment system resources and use them as a means of achieving superior business performance if they realise the impact of OPS on SME performance and the moderating impact of SME entrepreneurs' gender on this relationship. In addition, the findings of this study will assist managers in making a better-informed decision about implementing an OPS into their SMEs' overall strategy.

This study has consequences for policymakers who are deciding on ICT infrastructure policies. The government should encourage the adoption and effective use of OPS because they have a favourable influence on SME performance. To begin, emerging economies should enact legislation to create an atmosphere conducive to the adoption of this ICT instrument. This will provide resource-constrained SMEs with even more reasons to invest in this ICT instrument.

To be more precise, the findings of this study could be used to recommend some improvements and modifications to existing policies and strategies in Bangladesh to boost the usage of OPS (particularly by SMEs) to achieve economic growth. Bangladesh is an emerging economy with a large number of SMEs. Bangladesh's government is devoted to utilising ICT's capacity to aid the country's economic growth and to establishing “Digital Bangladesh.” To this end, Bangladesh's government should revise its ICT policy and continue and enhance measures such as eliminating all taxes on computer hardware, providing interest-free loans to ICT (software) companies, and launching pro-ICT initiatives, grants, incentives, and motivational programmes to encourage the use of ICT in various sectors of the economy.

The development of human resources, particularly women inside SMEs, is a critical component in achieving the goal of a “Digital Bangladesh.” This can be done through lowering training costs, which can be done through a variety of policy instruments. To develop internal knowledge and skills at the firm level, public policies should provide incentives for businesses to invest in their employees' training and specialisation.

Acknowledging certain limitations, the study suggests numerous directions for future research. First and foremost, the research was quantitative. As a result, future researchers may choose to use qualitative research methodologies to uncover more in-depth discoveries that will add to the body of knowledge.

Though OPS is important to conduct transactions in this pandemic-ridden world, this paper did not relate the implication of the study to the pandemic. This paper looks at the research question in a pre-pandemic period as the data has been collected at that time. OPS in the pandemic ridden world can definitely be the area of research in some future papers.

The data for this study was collected from Bangladeshi SMEs. To obtain more robust research results, future researchers may utilise a cross-country sample technique.

These studies have explored the impact of Perceived ease of use and Perceived usefulness of TAM. However, other elements of the TAM model were not considered in the study. For instance, technology affordability, trust, privacy, and security are associated with technology adoption. The reason for this is this study was conducted in the context of Bangladesh, and a few studies (e.g., Brown, 2002; Kalayou et al., 2020) show that in emerging economies, perceived ease of use and usefulness are more relevant than those other elements of TAM. However, future studies can explore these elements of TAM in emerging economy contexts, as well as these might be relevant after a period of time.

Future studies can also explore the impacts of OPS on firm performance (as well as the moderating effect of gender) in the different business sectors. In this way, more light can be shed on which business sectors the OPS has more positive impacts on firms' performances and which sectors gender plays a more important role.